Recs for RULES OF PROCEDURES Chapter 1

RULES OF PROCEDURES INTER-INSTITUTIONAL WORKING GROUP ON CHAPTER FREE MOVEMENT OF GOODSI BackgroundThe Ministry of Economic Development, Tourism, Trade, and Entrepreneurship (hereafterreferred as MEDTTE) is responsible for the harmonisation and implementation of the large partof the acquis and for leading the work of seven inter-institutional working groups (IIWGs), forseven chapters of the EU acquis (1, 3, 6, 7, 20, 28 and 30). MEDTTE needs to start preparationsearly in advance in order to be fully ready once a negotiating date is set by the EU.Therefore it is necessary to introduce instruments for strengthening the inter-institutionalcooperation and the role of IIWGs in order to be fully prepared for the screening process.In accordance with these priorities it is recommended to prepare rules and procedures of theIIWG with an aim of defining the methodological framework of the activities of the IIWG in theprocess of analytical review and assessment of harmonization of the regulations of the Republicof Albania with the Acquis of the European Union (Screening).The starting point for the rules and procedures of IIWG for Chapter 1 is the Government OrderNo.107 on the establishment, composition and operation of the Inter-Institutional EuropeanIntegration Working Groups from 28 February 2014. This Order sets the general rules on theoperation of the IIWGs for each chapter of the EU acquis. Taking into account theresponsibilities of the MEDTTE in the implementation of this Government Order it is consideredthat for chapters, including Chapter 1, for which the MEDTTE is set as leading ministry, thedetailed rules of procedures should be passed.In this document we will try to elaborate the main elements of the rules of procedures for theIIWG for Chapter 1.II Composition and ChairmanshipComposition of IIWGIn accordance with the Government Order No.107 on the establishment, composition andoperation of the Inter-Institutional European Integration Working Groups, the Ministry forEuropean Integration is obliged to specify, in cooperation with line ministries and. centralinstitutions, the list of IIWG and leading/coordinating institutions. Also, it is prescribed thatrepresentatives of certain ministries and institutions are standing members (MEI and Ministry ofFinance). Harmonisation of Economic and Trade Legislation with EU acquis Rruga Ismail Qemali, No3, 2nd Floor, Tirana, Albania T +355 4 2273424/2234365

Regarding the composition of the IIWG for Chapter 1, it is recommended that the rules ofprocedure prescribe and list the ministries and institutions which have to nominate theirrepresentatives in the IIWG. Each institution shall officially nominate two representatives (themember and the deputy member), and if necessary, a larger number depending on the area or thegroup of products the institution is competent for, in order to ensure the coordinated participationof other representatives of the institution. One of the members of the IIWG should be from the EIunit of the relevant institution, but others should be representatives from the sectorialdepartments of that institution. The appointed members of IIWG shall represent the officialposition and the views of the institution they represent. They shall be informed about all theactivities of IIWG and required to ensure the flow of information between IIWG and the relevantdepartments of their institution.The Annex of the Rules of Procedure, would list the names of the appointed members of theIIWG.The Government Order prescribes that in case of vacancies each responsible institution shallappoint a new IIWG member within 10 days, and the MEI has to be notified about changeimmediately. In practice this provision was not enough to enable the full functioning of eachIIWG and participation of all members. Usually, in the event of changes in staffing solutions, theresponsible institution does not react in advance and inform the head of the IIWG and Secretariatabout the change of member, but it is other way around. The head of IIWG and Secretariat mustrequire explanation and appointment of new member. This is why it is suggested that when themeeting of the IIWG (or sub-group) is convened each appointed member of the IIWG mustconfirm its participation or provide reasons why he will not be able to participate. In case that theappointed member is no longer responsible for the tasks related to the work of IIWG, he shouldinform the Secretariat of the IIWG. The Secretariat shall require the head of the responsibleinstitution to appoint the new member within the deadline of 10 days. The Secretariat of theIIWG shall inform MEI about this request.Chairmanship of IIWGThe Government Order No.107 on the establishment, composition and operation of the Inter-Institutional European Integration Working Groups prescribes that the IIWGs are chaired by therelevant Deputy Ministers of leading/coordinating Ministries or the relevant heads of theleading/coordinating institutions for each relevant chapter. The MEDTTE is aleading/coordinating institution for seven chapters and it is a challenge for one Deputy Ministerto coordinate and actively lead all 7 IIWGs. This is why in practice there is a special position oftechnical coordinator for each of 7 IIWGs. The proposal would be that the Rules of Proceduresfor the IIWG for Chapter 1 in detail define the role of the technical coordinator, as a kind of thedeputy head of the IIWG. It is important to define in what cases it is necessary that the DeputyMinister, as a head of the IIWG chairs the meetings of the IIWG and when this can be done bythe technical coordinator. For example, to stress the political commitment to the EU agenda ofAlbania, the Deputy Minister should chair the IIWG meeting when they will start with therevision of the NPEI, with the preparations of materials for the input for the Progress Report, orin finalization of the materials for the Subcommittee meeting, and in future in finalization of the Harmonisation of Economic and Trade Legislation with EU acquis Rruga Ismail Qemali, No3, 2nd Floor, Tirana, Albania T +355 4 2273424/2234365

materials for the screening. In all other cases the meetings of the IIWG should be convened andchaired by the technical coordinator. The technical coordinator is a head of the relevantdepartment or unit in the MEDTTE responsible for the area covered by the work of the IIWG.The technical coordinator shall communicate the outcome of the work and meetings of the IIWGto the head of the IIWG/the Deputy Minister and indicate possible open issues that have to beraised and discussed at higher, political level ( at the Inter-institutional Coordination Committeefor European Integration (KKNIE) or the Inter-Ministerial Committee for European Integration(KNIE)).III Secretariat of the IIWGThe Government Order No.107 on the establishment, composition and operation of the Inter-Institutional European Integration Working Groups prescribes that the secretariat of the IIWGshall be composed of members of leading institution of the specific acquis chapter, and that themembers of the secretariat will be selected by the chair of the IIWG. The Order furthermore inshort lines defines the role of the secretariat in the preparation of the meetings of the IIWG.The suggestion is that the Rules of Procedures of the IIWG define that the Secretariat of theIIWG for Chapter 1 is composed by the employees of the European Integration Unit of theMEDTTE. They should work based on the guidelines and instructions provided by the head ofthe IIWG and technical coordinator. In accordance with the Government Order they shouldprepare the provisional agenda for the meetings of the IIWG in coordination with technicalcoordinator and send it to all members of the IIWG. The members of the IIWG should be obligedto participate at meetings of the IIWG, or provide explanations why they are not able toparticipate. If not, the issue of non-participation will be raised to the higher level.The Secretariat should deal with all technical aspects of the meetings of the IIWG, includingvenue and minutes.The Secretariat should provide all necessary data, documents and information related to theChapter 1 to all members of the IIWG for Chapter 1. In this regard it is recommended toestablish a separate data base – drop box where all crucial documents for the Chapter 1 would bestored. The Secretariat will have obligation to store the data and manage this inventory ofdocumentation. This model would be used for all IIWGs under MEDTTE competence (7IIWGs). In the annex of the Rules of Procedure it we give the recommended structure of the datamanagement system in the form of drop box. In the first phase the access to the data-base will beavailable only to the Secretariat and technical coordinators of the IIWGs. In the second stages itwould be open to the representatives of MEI and EU units in other line institutions, and at theend all members of the IIWGs would have access to this data base.The members of the IIWG send all information, draft documents and in future all materials forscreening in Chapter 1 to the Secretariat and technical coordinator for Chapter 1. The Secretariatand technical coordinator work on the comprehensive documents and their finalization sendingthem to the MEI for further adoption at the Government level. Harmonisation of Economic and Trade Legislation with EU acquis Rruga Ismail Qemali, No3, 2nd Floor, Tirana, Albania T +355 4 2273424/2234365

IV Participation of the representatives of stakeholdersIn accordance with the Government Order No.107 on the establishment, composition andoperation of the Inter-Institutional European Integration Working Groups, a possibility ofincluding representatives of institutions that are not formal members of the IIWG in the work ofthe IIWG is defined.The Rules of Procedures of the IIWG should in more detail define the role of stakeholder’srepresentatives, from which institutions they should be invited (e.g. Albanian Chamber ofCommerce), at what occasions and at which meetings of the IIWG (e.g. kick off meeting of thepreparation of screening materials etc.)It will be necessary to differentiate the responsibilities of the appointed representatives of publicadministration institutions and of the representative of stakeholders.V Subgroups of the Negotiating Group 1In accordance with the Government Order No.107 on the establishment, composition andoperation of the Inter-Institutional European Integration Working Groups, which provides forestablishment of thematic groups within the IIWG, it is proposed to establish separate sub-groupsfor Chapter 1. Subgroups would be formed by negotiation subsections or related groups ofproducts. The meetings of sub-groups would be chaired by the technical coordinator of theIIWG. They would meet on ad hoc basis. The reason to establish the sub-groups is that it is verydifficult to coordinate IIWG with large number of members with a lot of different issues and EUacquis topics. It is a challenge for it to stay operational and to concentrate on the discussion andplans for further alignment in one specific sector. The Secretariat would provide all expert andtechnical support to the work of the sub-groups, similar as for the whole IIWG.Here is the proposal of possible sub-groups of IIWG for Chapter 1:1.1. General principles and non- harmonised area1.2. Horizontal issues1.3. Machinery, LVD, EMC, RTTE, noise emissions, non-road mobile machinery, eco-design, aerosol dispensers1.4. Toys and PPE1.5. Gas appliances, pressure equipment, transportable pressure equipment, simple pressure vessels1.6. Lifts, cableways, recreational crafts1.7. MID and NAWI1.8. Construction products1.9. ATEX, civilian explosives and pyrotechnics, weapons and firearms1.10. Motor vehicles1.11. Chemicals, Detergents, Fertilizers, GLP1.12. Glass, textiles, footwear1.13. Cultural goods1.14. Medicinal products – transparency of prices Harmonisation of Economic and Trade Legislation with EU acquis Rruga Ismail Qemali, No3, 2nd Floor, Tirana, Albania T +355 4 2273424/2234365

1.15. Notification procedure - TRISThe composition of each sub-group is determined based on the list of EU legal instruments,which is covered by the EU acquis subsection.Two general sub-groups - sub-group on general principles and non- harmonised area and sub-group on horizontal issues - will represent two most important units which will discuss and setthe priorities for the process of harmonisation in Chapter 1. They will also work on themethodology for the preparation of strategic documents and all other relevant documents for thescreening.Other sub-groups will be content oriented, and obliged to collect all necessary data anddocuments for the screening process that already exist (adopted legal acts and their translationsin English, draft legal acts, transposition tables, schemes and data on administrative structure forthe implementation). In this way they would start with the preparations for screening quite inadvance. Also, their task is to discuss further activities on legal harmonisation and needs forstrengthening of administrative capacities and report on these plans to the technical coordinatorand head of the IIWG.The sub-groups responsible for New approach legislation are composed of: - appointed members/ - representatives of the responsible ministry or public institution - a representative of other institutions which share the competence in the specific field - a representative of the General Directorate for Standardization of Albania; - a representative of the General Directorate for Accreditation of Albania - a representative of the competent market surveillance authority, - representatives of other bodies and organizations from business sector, experts, academics and others.The timetable of meetings of the subgroups shall be defined internally, in agreement withtechnical coordinator. Participation in meetings is mandatory for all appointed members.If appropriate, representatives of other stakeholders may be invited (economy, industry, locallevel, non-governmental organizations) to participate in the preparation of materials ofsubgroups.The full cooperation of all institutions/departments that have competence over thetransposition/implementation of a specific EU legal act is mandatory.The main task of the subgroups is to prepare professional contributions for the NPEI revision andmonitoring, materials for screening and professional contributions in the process of developingother documents crucial for negotiating process.VI The materials for the preparation of screeningIn accordance with the screening methodology the IIWG will be responsible to prepare thescreening material. It is recommended to start with those preparations well in advance. In this Harmonisation of Economic and Trade Legislation with EU acquis Rruga Ismail Qemali, No3, 2nd Floor, Tirana, Albania T +355 4 2273424/2234365

respect it should be considered whether in the Rules of Procedures prescribe on what documentsthe members of the IIWG for Chapter 1 should work. Another option is that this becomes a partof the overall horizontal Government legal framework regulating all IIWGs.The list of materials for screening:  Legal gap analysis for EU legal acts within their competence  Table of Concordance for already harmonised legal acts  Analysis of financial aspects of the transposition/implementation of an EU legal act  Draft screening lists  Draft list of questions to the European Commission for explanatory screening  Non-papers and answers to the questionnaire of the European Commission  Translation of laws and by-laws planned to be presented during the screening (translation provided by the MEI or competent institution) Harmonisation of Economic and Trade Legislation with EU acquis Rruga Ismail Qemali, No3, 2nd Floor, Tirana, Albania T +355 4 2273424/2234365